LAYAR: SPRXMobile recently launched Layar, “the world’s first augmented reality browser for mobile.” Layar “displays real-time digital information on top of reality in the camera screen of a mobile device. While looking through the phone’s camera lens, a user can see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, jobs, healthcare providers and ATMs.” Layar premiered on the Android platform in the Netherlands yesterday, with five launch partners: ING (bank), funda (realty website), Hyves (social network), Tempo-team (temp agency) and Zekur.nl (healthcare provider). Until this amazing utility is available State-side, you can read more and view screenshots at Layar.eu, and/or watch this YouTube demonstration.

TRACKLE: We recently learned during research for a client that, while some people are aware that they use RSS on a regular basis, many users of RSS are not aware of what it is even though they already subscribe to updates from their favorite sites, podcasts, and the like. People don’t know what RSS is – and they don’t need to. It's not the simplest thing to describe: say, “oh, it means ‘really simply syndication’” and you haven’t really explained it any better. The challenge becomes: how do you say “subscribe to this content or update” in a way that’s more intuitive? You could come up with a name/skin for RSS feeds and alerts that implies "a way to track your favorite digital content"… Trackle, currently in beta, aims to be an effortless way to keep you notified about all the things that are important to you. There's already a whole catalog of Tracklets to choose from.

GET HUMAN: Automated phone systems are notoriously clumsy and user-unfriendly. When you have a problem you need addressed by customer service, talking to a glorified answering machine often only exacerbates your frustration. The desire to circumvent automated systems and speak directly to a human was the impetus for GetHuman, a site that collects all the ways to “bypass phone systems, talk to a live person, share customer help tips”. GetHuman isn't exactly new, but their new mobile app is. Now it’s even easier to get better customer service from anywhere with the free Get Human app on your iPhone or iPod Touch (iTunes App Store link).

TWEET PSYCH: See what your Twitter may reveal about you with TweetPsych. "TweetPsych uses two linguistic analysis algorithms to build a psychological profile of a person based on the content of their tweets". It works best on account with more than 1000 tweets, but may still be revealing when applied to those with fewer.

Another batch of interesting and inspiring links, plucked again from Scott Rench's "That's Edutainment" emails.

Yellow Arrow
From the site: “Combining stickers, mobile phones and an international community, Yellow Arrow transforms the urban landscape into a "deep map" that expresses the personal histories and hidden secrets that live within our everyday spaces.” Granted, you have to know to look for a yellow arrow to take advantage of this project… but with 7535 arrows throughout 467 cities in 35 countries, it seems like more than a few people get the point.

This Next
This Next is a social shopping network where visitors interact with community-validated taste makers and influencers to discover new and recommended products.

Diaroogle
Here's how Scott described it: "We have all had that OMG moment where you are running and not walking in search of public bathroom. Now there is an app that lets you find only the quality public toilets in your area." That app is Diaroogle. There's also an iPhone app version, which will be handy once more cities are included. (So far, "your area" is limited to New York City.)

LikeMe
LikeMe is a personalized recommendation engine, based on input from your online peers. The site's algorithmic engine matches you up with people who have similar tastes and lifestyles to give you recommendations you're most likely to enjoy.

Interactive Vending
Sapient's innovative vending macines for Coke debuted recently, and offer an interesting look into the ways we'll soon experience with brands in real-space. Link to Gizmodo.com article.

Thanks again for the links, Scott. Great stuff.

A second edition of Linkage already? Yes. This batch of inspiring links comes from Associate Creative Director Brent Eveleth. Brent's email added another element of commentary with the "currently" status under each link -- a wonderful addition to the usual "check this link out" email. Nice touch, Brent.

Perspectv is a way to track instances of any word or phrase across Tweets, blog posts, news feeds, searches, etc. It allows for single or comparative views, and can show you real-time data on who’s saying what about your brand.

Currently: exploring perspctv to inform the handling of social media in a new business project's discovery phase.

BONUS: nytimes.com  had a great visualization of Twitter chatter during the Super Bowl (click “Talking about ads” on the left to see the discussion of the spots – Career Builder clearly kicked a**.)

Designer Mark Boulton shares some great insight into his team’s transparent process of architecture and design for the new Drupal.org site, including some novel ideas for ad hoc testing (fresh!), rapid prototyping using CSS and HTML (hot!) and a system that eases into the design phase gradually (gradual!).

Currently: marveling at the transition this creates from prototype to design to developed code.

 
Boxee is a social app/media player that plays your music/vids/photos, streams programming from the major networks (all sponsored by advertising), podcasts, torrents, photo feeds, you name it, it probably plays it.  Then, it broadcasts what you and your friends are enjoying, so you everyone will know you’ve been watching those re-runs of Small Wonder.

Currently: NOT watching Small Wonder. I swear.

Props to Brent again for the inspired finds.

Here, as at other Tribal offices, we forward each other links of interest all the time. Some Tribal folks pride themselves on it. Art Director Scott Rench is one of those people. Below are the great finds from his most recent batch of "That's Edutainment" emails. Keep 'em coming Scott!

Viral Fast Food
It seems like McDonald’s Japan is taking the viral food retailing trend pushed by Krispy Kreme and Burger King to another level. They’ve now opened two exclusive Quarter Pounder Shops in Shibuya and Omotesando that are completely devoid of any McDonald’s branding.

Would You Like to Add a Pic With That?
Twittering your fake event is so last year. Why not prove where you are by adding photos to your Twitter posts? Visit TwitPic and follow the simple steps to add photos to your pretend events.

MyStickies
MyStickies allow you to place little squares of digital paper anywhere and everywhere you feel like in the world wide web. Along with the ability to put sticky notes on webpages MyStickies offers a powerful interface to browse, search, sort, edit and generally have a wonderfull time with your sticky notes from any computer that has Internet access.

Personal Mobile Content
The Japanese have always been ahead of us when it comes to technology. I remember seeing my first camera phone in Tokyo several years before it made it state side. If you want to see what mobile life will look like in a few years look at Japan. PePiCo (Personal Picture Content) is a platform developed by Cybermedia Japan that allows users to take photos and create personalized content. Visitors to PePiCo can make e-cards, wallpapers, and games that feature the subject of the uploaded photo in a funny story/scene that can then be passed along to friends.

We're hoping to make this "Linkage" post the first in an ongoing series of the random links that inspire and delight us. Big thanks again to Scott Rench for the "Edutainment" links.